Description Tawny (grayer in winter),
with indistinct dark spotting. Short, stubby tail, with 2 or
3 black bars and
black tip above; pale or white below. Upper legs have dark or
black horizontal bars. Face has thin, often broken black lines
radiating onto broad cheek ruff. Ears slightly tufted. Male larger
than female.
Similar Species Lynx has tail tip black above and below, larger
feet, longer legs, more pronounced ear tufts, and longer, grayer
fur without indistinct spotting.
Habitat Primarily scrubby country or broken forests?ardwood,
coniferous, or mixed; also swamps, farmland, and rocky or brushy
arid lands.
Range Spotty distribution from coast to coast, and from s Canada
into Mexico. Probably most plentiful in Far West, from Idaho,
Utah, and Nevada to Pacific Coast and from Washington to Baja
California. Scarce or absent in much of Midwest.
Discussion Found only in North America, where it is the most
common wildcat, the Bobcat gets its common name from its stubby,
or "bobbed," tail. The animal spends less time in trees
than the Lynx, resting by day in a rock cleft, thicket, or other
hiding place, but is also an expert climber. Sometimes it rests
on a boulder or a low tree branch, its mottled fur providing
excellent camouflage; if hard-pressed, it will swim. The Bobcat?
home range varies in size with sex, season, and prey distribution
and abundance. It marks its range using urine (in large or small
amounts that it may cover up), feces (also sometimes covered
up), anal gland scent, and scrapes and scratches. It uses the
same hunting pathways repeatedly to prey mostly on the Snowshoe
Hare (in the northern U.S.) and cottontails (in the eastern U.S.),
but also on mice, squirrels, Woodchucks, Virginia Opossums, moles,
shrews, Common Raccoons, foxes, domestic cats, birds, reptiles,
Common Porcupines, and even skunks. The Bobcat, like many larger
predators, can fast for some time when food is not available,
but eats heavily when it is. The animal consumes small prey immediately,
but caches and revisits larger kills. The Bobcat and the Lynx
are capable of killing prey as large as deer, but they seldom
do so except in deep snow, when food is scarce, or when fawns
are available. The Bobcat hunts small prey by waiting for victims
motionlessly and then pouncing; pursues medium-size animals from
a hunting bed or lookout, attacking by stalking and then rushing,
or by simply rushing; and seeks large prey such as deer when
they are bedded down. After a rush, the Bobcat will bite at the
throat, base of skull, and chest. Occasionally the species preys
upon livestock, especially poultry. When food is scarce the Bobcat
will eat carrion, usually animals killed by cars or by hunters.
This wildcat has a natal or maternal den and other auxiliary
or shelter dens in less-visited portions of its home range. The
natal den, with a nest of leaves or other dry vegetation, is
often in a cave or rock shelter, if available, but can be in
a hollow log, under a fallen tree, or in another protected place.
Brush piles, rock ledges, stumps, hollow logs, or similar protected
places serve as auxiliary dens.Like the Lynx, the Bobcat is a
solitary animal, the sexes coming together only for mating. The
Bobcat generally does not mate until its second year. Males are
sexually active all year, but most females are in heat in February
or March. More than one male may be attracted to a female; the
female and dominant male may mate several times after a series
of chases and "ambushes." The other males remain apart
during matings, but the female may mate with them later. The
young are well furred and spotted at birth. They begin exploring
at one month and are weaned at two. By fall they are hunting
on their own, but remain with the mother for nearly a year. The
various calls of the Bobcat sound much like those of the domestic
cat, although its scream is piercing. When threatened, the animal
utters a short, sudden, and resonant "cough-bark." It
yowls loudest and most often during the breeding season. Humans
(who hunt Bobcats with hounds in some areas) and the automobile
are this animal? worst enemies, but predators such as foxes,
owls, and adult male Bobcats may attack the young. Populations
are stable in many northern states and are reviving in other
states where intensive trapping formerly decimated the species.
In some states, such as New Jersey, the Bobcat is being reestablished.
